Tag Archives: #parents #raisingkids

I have seen many facebook posts about how different the childhood lives were of us older folks. We are so proud of our crazy escapades. We used to run wild with parental consent. Playing outside was the norm. At times, we were literally miles away, and far outside the reach of any authority. We were physically fit, we were using our imaginations, and we got dirty. We had a great time.

I grew up in a neighborhood full of mostly boys. There was motorcycle riding, bicycle riding, skateboarding all sans helmet, pick-up games of football and kick ball, horseback riding and other such activities. There was a creek nearby for swimming, fishing, and crawdad catching.

So, what stands out? Well, let’s see. There was the time when I was riding on the back of an ATV, a stick somehow got stuck up my pant leg and so I shook my leg to get rid of it. My leg was caught under the back tire, which sucked me right off the seat and I was slammed to the ground as the tire rolled over my limb. My driver friend took a serious hit to her ribs against the handlebars.

One day, my neighbor decided he would like to be strung up a tree. Seriously, it was his idea. Does anyone remember how much fun you can have with the old rope over the branch trick? Well, said neighbor boy created a loop and put it around his neck and asked my brother to start pulling on the rope. He made it a few feet off the ground before he started making very strange noises and the writhing of his body was evidence enough for my brother to let him down. Brilliant thinking on behalf of both of them.

At one point in time, boyhood frustrations were running high. There were altercations occurring. One day, we kids happened across previously mentioned hang him up boy and his military father. The father thought it would be a great idea to duke it out and settle the tension. So he asked “Who wants to fight?” Boys agreed to fighting, and fighting occurred. As the only girl, I was an observer. As I recall, the fights ended on their own with mutual consent. Can you imagine the headlines today?

These are but a few of my many, many stories I could tell you about the youth of past days.

So, parents, if life was so great, why won’t you let your children experience the same?

Let your children run wild with no knowledge of their whereabouts for hours on end. Let them trick-or-treat unsupervised. Let them sell cookies door-to-door to complete strangers with no parents watching over them. Forget the helmets, forget the seatbelts. Remember how much fun it was without them? Swimming alone, why not? There is nothing like living a little dangerously. It will build character. As a small test, tell your children to leave their cell phones at home to simulate the lack of contact. Are you game? Probably not.

Did we have great fun as youths? Yes we did. We didn’t know how stupid we were being, and yet we look back at it with fondness. Did we let our children do the same? Heck no! Are you a hypocrite? I can’t answer for all of you, but for me, yes, guilty as charged!

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